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Monday, February 14, 2011

Review: Hexbound

THE STORYLily Parker hasn't been a student at St. Sophia's School for Girls in Chicago for very long, but in that time she's met a best friend, discovered a latent magical ability, developed a crush on a werewolf, and learned her parents have been hiding things from her – things possibly related to her new status as a girl with paranormal abilities. That's a lot of change in a short period of time.

She's adjusting though, learning about being an Adept, someone who releases their magic back into the universe around age twenty-five; and being a Reaper, someone who seeks to hang on to their magic but must harm others in order to maintain it. And because there is never a dull moment in Lily Parker's life, strange new creatures make their presence known, attacking her and fellow Adepts Scout, Jason, and Michael in the tunnels under St. Sophia's.

Lily has had hardly any time to attempt to focus and harness her power over Firespell, and the one person who can teach her how to use it just happens to be a Reaper. While tracking down these new fiends and dodging Reapers, she's also trying to find time to nurse a budding relationship with Jason and attempting to uncover more information on her parents and the real subject of their research overseas. A girl's work is just never done.MY THOUGHTSIn typical Chloe Neill style, Hexbound gives us a story infused with wit and humor and positively brimming with paranormal action. The words we're attempting to read have a tendency to blur periodically as the pages shake in time to our laughter-induced convulsions resulting from an abundance of snarky retorts, and we instantly feel at home with characters who are accessible, enjoyable and comfortingly familiar. Ms. Neill has a way of writing that seems so beautifully casual, as though we are surrounded by old friends in a warm, cheerful environment despite events often taking place in dark, dank tunnels with characters to whom we've really only recently been introduced. Lily and Scout's penchant for sarcasm immediately draws us in, welcoming us into the fold of Enclave Three and serving to temper the gravity and seriousness of their mission with a sass and flippancy that keeps us continually snorting in amusement.

Both young ladies are endlessly entertaining, the strength of their friendship growing with every snarky quip, and theirs is a healthy relationship we both appreciate and relate to. So often in young adult literature the friendship between two female characters is strained, the connection often fading as jealousy and pettiness infect all aspects of the relationship and leave either one or both wallowing in self-pity or guilt over the words and actions ultimately leading them toward the dissolution of the friendship. With Lily and Scout we see two young women who are thriving, their joys and pains supported by, and shared with, the other as they're able to communicate effortlessly over matters of great or little importance.

The story itself moves quickly, and while we may not walk away from this tale having learned anything profound or been pushed to the very edge of our emotional limits, we are nonetheless entertained by the bits of mystery and romance spread throughout, and find ourselves smiling upon concluding this installment for no other reason than we had a good time reading it. Though there are several different plot threads co-existing in this story, Ms. Neill handles them deftly, addressing each one in turn so we are never left completely in the dark or idly wondering, but are given just enough information to keep our interest piqued as we eagerly await additional details. Lily's life continues to increase in complexity, the family drama put on the back burner a bit in this book but certainly not forgotten, and her romantic and magical entanglements gain in prominence. Werewolf Jason and Reaper Sebastian are both significantly more than they appear to be, and both have fascinating interactions with Lily that give us pause as we ponder what will come of all the things that go unsaid while simultaneously sorting through all the ramifications of the revelations spoken aloud.

Ms. Neill's stories are always a welcome escape, a quick jaunt into a world that makes us laugh and keeps us guessing, and while we don't necessarily emerge from it fundamentally altered by the experience, we do close the back cover feeling pleasantly fulfilled, as though we were just handed a bag of our favorite candy and told we could indulge in as many as we'd like.

30 comments:

I know you recommended the first book but I haven't managed to get around to reading it unfortunately. There's just so many books to read and so little time (stupid midterms and essays are going to keep me busy right up until the end of the semester) :( I'm definitely going to read this series though as soon as I get the time since it sounds fun. Plus, I love books that make me laugh.

I read the first one in this series and really liked it...Ive been caught up in her Chicago Vampires lately. I wasnt sure about reading the rest of the YA ones...but I think I will after Im done with her adult series....LOVE your review!!

Zahida - Darn school always getting in the way of blogging;) I don't know how you even have a blog and go to school, that would be too much work for me! Hope you get a chance to pick this series up in the near future:)

Jennifer - I agree, I adore her sense of humor. I like the Chicagoland Vampires better than this series, but both are highly entertaining.

Leanna - I think you'll like this one, it didn't blow me away, but it was a fun read.

Alison - Lily and Scout both have Merit and Mallory's snark, though I do think Merit has a little bit more complexity to her than Lily does at this point.

Melissa - I know you hate vamps, but the Chicagoland Vampire series is awesome - Merit and Ethan are my one of my favorite couples:)

Tina - I liked this one more than Firespell just because we know what's going on now so we could dive right into the action instead of having the magic explained to us:)

Jessica - Me too! I just love Chloe Neill.

Linds - Start with the Chicagoland Vamps - not YA, but SO GOOD! You will enjoy Ethan I think:)

Tara - These books are just short and cute and make me laugh which is always a good thing. And I love Chicago, so bonus:) Hope you give them a try!

Nic - If you like her Chicagoland Vamps, I think you'll like these, they've got the same witty banter and strong female leads as those books. No Ethan though, which is a bummer:)

Misha - It's a fun paranormal, not too much craziness going on, just a good story.

Sounds really interesting, Jenny. I love a plot with snarky characters. ;) I have the Chicagoland Vampire series on on my tbr, but I had no idea she also wrote for YA. Should I try this series first or the CV?

It sounds great. Thanks for the review.I like the font for the cover, is that totally dorky?

It sounds like a more grown-up version of Diane Duane's Wizards series... where the characters have a limited amount of time until their magic runs out.The snarky commentary made me think of Paranormalcy, too. It definitely sounds like the author has some Buffy the Vampire influences.

Rummanah - I love me some snark too, so she's an auto-buy author for me:) I would start with the CV series, I prefer those books to these, but both are fun reads, it's just Merit and Ethan in CV are pretty unforgettable.

Missie - There should be, I adore her! Have you read her Chicagoland Vamps series? I think you would like her sense of humor, if her characters were real, we would absolutely be friends with them;)

Madigan - I love the font! I always look at things like that on covers, so if its dorky, I embrace it:)

I love Chloe Neill. Her adult series Chicagoland Vampires was awesome so I've really been wondering about this one. Thanks for the review, I'm going to have bump it up in my TBR. (also, *squee* River Marked is out soon!)